Expenditures and Factors Effecting of Diabetes Mellitus Patients at Waritchaphum Hospital in Fiscal Year 2005

Abstract

The objectives of this retrospective descriptive study were to determine the medical expenditures and formulate the cost function related to diabetes mellitus patients from a provider perspective for the fiscal year 2005 at Waritchaphum hospital, Sakon Nakhon province and by retrieving electronic database. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic characteristics and medical expenditures. Stepwise multiple regression was employed to examine factors associated with medical expenditures. One thousand two hundred and twenty-five Diabetes Mellitus patients were served by the hospital. Most of the patients were female (71%) and more than 90 percent were older than 40 years old, while registered with the Universal Health Coverage scheme-UC (56%). The total expenditures for all patients of Waritchaphum hospital was about 21 million baht while the total expenditures for diabetes mellitus patients was 5 million baht (22%), attributed mostly to drug (36%). The average and median of patient expenses were 3,827 baht and 1,578 baht, respectively. Based on the fitted model, the significant explanatory variables included length of stay (day), insulin injection use and number of OPD visit. The model could explain nearly seventy percent of the cases (adjusted R2 = 0.669, Sig. F<0.001). In conclusion, determination of healthcare resource utilization can be done from available electronic databases that provide useful information for health resource management for hospital administrators.